Sudan's army says it has captured a key city in the country's east, one of its biggest gains in its nearly two-year war against rebel forces.
Footage on social media showed people celebrating in the streets as army soldiers entered the town of Wad Madani.
The leader of the Rapid Support Force (RSF) paramilitary group, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, acknowledged the loss in an audio message.
His admission was angry and jarring, attributing the defeat to the military's air superiority and the use of Iranian drones.
But he vowed to keep fighting until victory, even if it took another 20 years.
Wad Madani is the capital of Al Jazeera State and is 87 miles (140 km) south of the country's capital, Khartoum.
Violence broke out between the army and the RSF in April 2023. after days of tension as RSF members were redeployed across the country in a move the army saw as a threat.
The war has claimed tens of thousands of victims. And in what the United Nations has called one of the world's “greatest displacement crises,” some nine million people have been forced from their homes.
The country is too starvingwith 24.6 million people – about half the population – in urgent need of food aid, experts said.
Earlier this month, the US sanctioned RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo in the aftermath accused the group of committing genocide.
Officials said he was being punished for his role in “systematic” atrocities against the Sudanese people during the 20-month conflict.